Fourteen Year 10 drama students devised their own chat show, with the help of English teacher, Helen Smith, to show the devastating consequences of an act of criminal damage. They based the drama on a “Jeremy Kyle” kind of chat show, with ‘Geraldine Kyle’ as the host.

The DVD is to be used as part of a teaching pack, called Whose Fault Is It Anyway? This will be used in secondary schools throughout the County and other parts of the country.

The students worked on the script for the show and also improvised as they acted out the parts. Les Watts, Educational Arts Consultant, developed, filmed and then edited the DVD film.

Appearing on the chat show is a vandal, played Ryan Metcalfe, who pulled down some fence posts, near a railway line. A young boy strayed on the line and was killed by a train.

The vandal starts off not caring about what he has done and says he is not to blame for the boy’s death, however he comes to realise the consequences of his actions and expresses regret.

Other characters on the chat show include: The victim’s mother, the traumatised train driver, vandal’s mother, local councillor, businessman who lost a million pound deal because his train was late, two security guards, a psychologist and members of the audience.

English teacher, Helen Smith, said: “The students worked hard and really enjoyed taking part. The DVD turned out really well and the students loved it.”

Ryan said: “It was really good.” Stevie Devlin, who played the young victim’s mother, added: “It was fun and interesting making it but it was embarrassing seeing yourself on screen.”

The DVD is part of an initiative that has been developed by Durham County Council drugs and alcohol advisor, Patrick Hargreaves, and educational arts consultant, Les Watts, former head of music at Bishop Barrington. The idea of the peer-produced dramatisations is to increase young people’s awareness and understanding of the issues involved, analyse the risks and reach informed decisions about the consequences of their actions.

Later in the year Bishop Barrington drama students will be involved in the making of another film, this time about drugs and substance misuse.

English teacher, Helen Smith, pictured with students, who played leading roles in the DVD film.